It has been a long standing goal of researchers to find more desirable sources of energy. At the present time, the demand for energy is satisfied primarily by the consumption of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. The consumption of energy is accompanied by the creation of pollutants that are beginning to pose a serious threat to the environment. Forests are threatened by acid rain. The heat generated by the consumption of such energy sources has caused global warming, the long term effects of which are as yet unknown. For these and many more reasons, the search is on for efficient and inexpensive sources of energy without pollution.
One such source that meets this goal is the generation of electricity from sunlight. The primary device used for this process is the solar cell or photovoltaic device. Photovoltaic devices essentially create electrical current when exposed to sunlight. However, the photovoltaic technology is not without its problems as well. Chief of these is the high cost of manufacturing photovoltaic cells. Specifically, the high cost for manufacturing photovoltaic cells discourages their widespread use as other forms of energy are currently less expensive.